Europeans Love Obama

A collection of European opinions on the US presidential race included a number of gems, such as:

In France, the center-left Libération says the new leader of the French Socialist Party should be someone with Obama's profile: "The French Left seeks a charismatic leader, age 46, of mixed race, to deliver a message of hope and unity. At a time when American Democrats are discovering their new hero, it would be a good time for the Socialist Party and their friends to find a Barack Obama to end their internal quarrels."

There were several in this vein, which is as creepy as the UN is incompetent:

An editorial in the Brussels-based, center-right De Standaard articulates a view shared by many Europeans: "American presidential elections are not 'home affairs'. American decisions have repercussions all over the globe…. Hence, the world should be given the right to vote."

latest installment of photoshop-politics:

Open Letter - Atlas Shrugged Good for US Students

For about 5 years now a close friend and I have asked ourselves what could be done to turn the trajectory of America from socialism to a society that lifts up individual freedoms and doesn't grow the government into an inevitable oppressor. Our most common answer is to find a way to have the majority of US citizens either read Atlas Shrugged, or discuss its underlying ideas enough to see the dangers of collectivism and the value of individualism. We dreamed of having a Bill Gates size foundation that could purchase a book for every college freshman each year. So, when I saw the letter to America's students below, I wanted to paste the whole letter here. If you are Bradley Thompson or a publisher that can claim copyright concerns for this article, let me know and I'll just use quotes. Otherwise, I want others to read this, and hope they pass it along to young people they know. --Uly

An Open Letter to America's Students
Column by C. Bradley Thompson - Feb 4, 2008

This letter is addressed to all young people who’ve read or are about to read Ayn Rand’s epic novel, Atlas Shrugged.

I’ve taught Atlas Shrugged for fifteen years during which time I’ve witnessed many remarkable things.

For example, some 95 percent of my students report that Atlas Shrugged is the best book they’ve ever read. No book that I’ve taught comes remotely close to fostering a more robust exchange of ideas in the classroom.

My students typically come to class after pulling an all-nighter debating Atlas with their friends, and then they pepper me with dozens of questions.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with Ayn Rand’s ideas, few can deny that this is what the college experience is supposed to be like.

During those few weeks each year when I teach Atlas Shrugged, I’ve seen hundreds of students become intellectually engaged in ways they weren’t before reading this extraordinary book.

The comment I hear most often from students goes something like this: “Atlas Shrugged sums up everything that I’ve always admired and believed but could never put into words.”

Ayn Rand’s novel speaks to many students’ deepest values and aspirations: it appeals to their sense of justice, integrity, honesty, and independence, and it appeals to their desire to live in a world where achievement and heroism are rewarded.

To enter the world of Atlas Shrugged is to experience a world radically different from today’s. Many of you will find this world exhilarating, and it just might change your life forever.

I know many other professors who teach Atlas Shrugged, and their experiences with students mirror my own. Sadly, though, some of your professors may react rather differently when they learn that you’re reading Atlas Shrugged. They may condescendingly sneer and say something like this: “Oh yes, Atlas Shrugged is for teenagers. Don’t worry, you’ll get over it.”

Occasionally the reaction is worse. Over the years, I have personally witnessed both liberal and conservative professors become psychologically unbuttoned when they learn that students are reading Ayn Rand in my classes. A few professors even attempted to bully my students to prevent them from discussing Rand’s ideas.

Amusingly, one conservative colleague sent his students into my class to try and intimidate me, as young communists once did against their professors in Mao’s China.

Why do these professors become viscerally angry at the mention of Ayn Rand’s name? Why do they slander and smear her without actually engaging her ideas? Clearly, there is something they fear in Rand’s philosophy, something they don’t want you to read.

What is it?

That many liberals fear the influence of Ayn Rand’s ideas is not surprising. Atlas Shrugged is, arguably, the most powerful critique of socialism ever written. But why would a conservative professor fear the prospect that Rand might be taught in a college classroom?

Religious conservatives don’t like Ayn Rand because she chose Athens over Jerusalem, reason over revelation, and pragmatic conservatives don’t like her because she was a moral absolutist. But there’s usually something more that bothers conservatives.

Ayn Rand believed that the United States was the most moral society in history, but she also believed that its founding principles had never been properly defended. She therefore set out to secure America’s basic values and principles — e.g., rugged individualism, limited government and capitalism.

Unlike many conservatives, Rand didn’t rely on faith, tradition, or folksy speeches to defend America. Instead, she thought those principles philosophically demonstrable.

The reason that some conservatives fear Ayn Rand is that, ultimately, they can’t defend America philosophically.

Conservatives don’t like the fact that Rand defends reason, objectivity, and certainty — and they won’t; they don’t like the fact that she defends rational self-interest, moral absolutism, and rationally grounded virtues — and they won’t; they don’t like the fact that she defends individual rights and capitalism — and they won’t.

And because they won’t defend these philosophical principles, they can’t defend America. That is conservatism’s dirty little secret.

Finally, these conservative professors hate Ayn Rand precisely because her novels appeal to the ideals of the young. Like you, Rand took ideas seriously.

She said that it’s critically important to live your life according to rationally demonstrable principles and that it’s important to be moral not just in theory but also in practice. Ayn Rand appeals to the young because her novels are full of productive heroes who accomplish great things against great odds.

It’s good to be young and to care about ideas and moral principles.

If you are a high school or a college student reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time, I hope you will do just one thing:

Don’t base your judgment of Atlas Shrugged on what your professors or I say or think — positively or negatively.

Instead, ask yourself — repeatedly — one question as you read Atlas Shrugged: Are Ayn Rand’s ideas true or not? And there is only one person who can answer this question: YOU!

Communist Faithful for Obama

Okay, this one's for those thinking, "Hey Ulysses, what's with all these posters pairing Obama with socialism/communism?" Well, the central reason I did it was because of his stated platform promises, and what direction those will take the US in, but here's a clue that I'm not off base:

Hat tip to the Glenn Beck website. They featured a video from a Houston local newscast. A straigtforward piece about the campaign and the doings of the candidates. In the beginning of it, they show a new Obama office being opened up in Houston. The screen shot below is from their office, with a small picture of Barack on the wall, and a huge flag glorifying Marxist rebel and authoritarian, Che Guevara.



From The Cult of Che, posted on Slate:

The cult of Ernesto Che Guevara is an episode in the moral callousness of our time. Che was a totalitarian. He achieved nothing but disaster. Many of the early leaders of the Cuban Revolution favored a democratic or democratic-socialist direction for the new Cuba. But Che was a mainstay of the hardline pro-Soviet faction, and his faction won. Che presided over the Cuban Revolution's first firing squads. He founded Cuba's "labor camp" system—the system that was eventually employed to incarcerate gays, dissidents, and AIDS victims. To get himself killed, and to get a lot of other people killed, was central to Che's imagination. In the famous essay in which he issued his ringing call for "two, three, many Vietnams," he also spoke about martyrdom and managed to compose a number of chilling phrases: "Hatred as an element of struggle; unbending hatred for the enemy, which pushes a human being beyond his natural limitations, making him into an effective, violent, selective, and cold-blooded killing machine. This is what our soldiers must become …"— and so on.

Remember, everyone says Obama isn't just a candidate, he's now a movement. A movement to what? Socialism, Collectivism, Nationalized industries, class envy and an assault on individual freedoms?

California Taxes Chase Away Wealth

Here's a good story from San Fran. California's taxes keep rising, and the wealthy have had enough and are establishing residence in lower tax states. What's the key lesson? Well, liberals in America often want more social programs funded by increased taxes on the rich. Even if you raise taxes across the board, liberals are upset that the rich weren't taxed at a higher rate. It's class envy, and incredibly stupid economics. Why? Because by and large people who have built wealth aren't that stupid. Higher taxes will drive them away, especially if they continue to see more and more freebies given out on their dime.

This story is a great example, and as taxes go up in the nation, we'll see more and more wealthy finding ways to shield their assets outside of the US. So, those liberals that figured they'd pay for socialized medicine, or free college for all, by taxing the rich, aren't going to get anything but put the country in a worse state. It's simple economics. Intelligent people will do what is in the best interest. Even highly charitable ones know that they can't contribute to the cause they care about if Uncle Sam is taking it all and wasting 50% on bureaucracy.

Millionaires cashing out of Bay Area - San Francisco Business Times:: "'You can still make a lot of money in California. The problem is, then you have to pay taxes on that money,' said Kennedy, who recently helped a California client with annual income of about $1 million save $96,000 annually by making their home in Jackson Hole, Wyo., their primary residence.
'Effectively, you have the state of California subsidizing their relocation through the tax savings,' Kennedy said. 'You can still tap into California's resources -- which includes a large, educated population -- while extricating yourself from the California tax system.'"

fifth installment...

When Socialism Comes to America - HUMAN EVENTS

When Socialism Comes to America - HUMAN EVENTS:

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism, but under the name of liberalism, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program until one day, America will be a socialist nation without ever knowing how it happened.' -- Norman Thomas, American socialist"

The quote and article it came from serve as timely intros to the 5th installment of my political-photoshop gallery. Joseph Farah points out some of the indicators that support the quote above. You can hear his frustration in lines such as:

"Americans may simply be too far gone spiritually, morally and intellectually to reject the temptations of socialism."

I understand what Joseph is seeing when he writes a line like that, but I will not give up the fight. There was never a country founded with a better mix of economic freedom, political freedom, and the rule of law than the US. It is unique, and has been a light in a vast cavern of darkness. When it goes out, it won't be woe to the US, it will be woe to mankind. It's worth the fight. Humanity is worth the fight. The fight of reason, individualism, and objectivity over sentimentalism, corruption, and collectivism.

Objectivism meets Video Gaming in BioShock

Objectivism meets 18 year olds in an award-winning BioShock video game. The game can surely be seen as an attack on Ayn Rand's philosophy, but Brian Crecente has written a good article on the positives of bringing the philosophy to a mass audience in a new way. And it's not just any game, it's one a slew of Game of the Year and Best Story categories.



The game isn't a 'serious' look at objectivism, but the philosophy is a strong thematic element. The president of the Ayn Rand Institute, Yaron Brook, has some positive analysis of the issue in the Crecente article. I'm pleased that my son has been assigned both Anthem and The Fountainhead in his high school, and I look forward to further discussion with him after he 'experiences' the game. Here's a quote from the article:

"The sunken city of Rapture, a world of art deco aesthetics, neon sales pitches and looming architecture, is home to more than just murderous splicers and lumbering Big Daddys, it's also a surprising breeding ground for introspection.

BioShock may have been conceived as a study in nuance, a place for gamers to discover and explore at their own pace, but its dip into the ethical morass of Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophies has brought her beliefs back into the mainstream spotlight and even piqued the interest of the Ayn Rand Institute's president, Yaron Brook."

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And here's the 4th installment of the political-photoshopping fun:

Collective Punishment vs Fairness

Szandor Blestman points out the 'unfairness' of collective punishment in schools. I remember those situations as happening at least weekly, sometimes daily, during elementary and middle school. Szander also talks about the misguided attempts to create fairness through the use of government force, and how individualism has time and again proven to be the system that offers the most opportunity to all participants.

American Chronicle Fairness and Life, Collectivism and Freedom: "Collective punishment is always going to be unfair to someone. If some person or group of people commit a crime, only those directly involved in the crime, those who knew what was happening and/or intended harm, should be punished. If everyone associated with them, no matter how innocuously, is punished, then innocent people end up being punished."

And here's my third installment of getting the political point across through the wonder of photoshop:

Hillary as Comrade in Chief

I have no idea what the original Russian says on this poster, but I thought it was a good fit for the expression Hillary has. (If you know what it says, I'm all ears.) I don't think Hillary is a Stalin by a long shot, but when leaders embrace socialism and collectivism, they are leading us down the path that will bring us a Stalin eventually. The fact that they should know this gives them culpability. Maybe they didn't hang us from the tree, but they plant and water the seed of the hanging-tree.

Barack - Leader of the USSA

This will be the first in a series. Photoshopping is just a pasttime, but pictures do get the point across quickly. Both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are promising all sorts of new entitlement plans, and want to expand existing ones. They want to move us significantly down the path towards becoming the United Socialist States of America. The fact that thousands show up to listen to them promise free gifts for all is a testament to the need for the public to be educated on the hopelessness of collectivism, and where it inevitably leads in the end.

Freedom: Struggle for Individualism

Below is a blurb from an article that promotes Individualism and explains why Ron Paul is their man for US President in '08. I'm not promoting Paul, but I thought the article expained some core truths well...

Freedom: Struggle for Individualism:

Voluntary altruism is moral.
The threat to individual human liberty occurs when altruism is institutionalized in the form of government. Institutionalized altruism is the tipping point when the needs or wants of the masses supersede rights of the individual. When the earned rewards of individual labors are involuntarily taken, and redistributed to those who claim to have the greatest need.

Compulsory altruism is unjust.
Compulsory altruism is called socialism, communism, or fascism. Collectivism. Every form of collectivism requires a hierarchy of leaders who determine how collective wealth is redistributed as welfare, or subsidies. Those leaders form an oligarchy — whether appointed or elected — and the circle is complete: the will of the few once again controls the behavior of the masses. This oligarchy seeks both foreign and domestic control.

Earl Pearson: Collectivism is a nice idea that simply doesn't work - Monday, Jan. 28, 2008

Any government big enough to give you everything you need, is big enough to take it all away, right Earl? Quote below from Earl Pearson's article speaking out against the danger of collectivism...

Union Leader - Earl Pearson: Collectivism is a nice idea that simply doesn't work - Monday, Jan. 28, 2008: "ECENTLY THERE was a political ad on TV in which a number of children appear consecutively pleading for politicians to tell the truth and not to make promises they cannot keep. The final battle cry was, 'Health care and financial security for all.'
'Financial security for all' sounds great -- if you know nothing about the consequences. What would happen to the incentive to work, to productivity, creativity, competition and all the other factors necessary to support a thriving economy and a decent standard of living if we all had financial security provided by the government?"